


The Truth is...

by romioneB



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Presents, F/M, Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, Perfume
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:28:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28584975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romioneB/pseuds/romioneB
Summary: Takes place during 5th year on Christmas day. Fred and George play a cruel joke on Ron, will it backfire?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 12
Kudos: 39





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this super fast, so if there are any errors, or it doesn't flow well, or if I got some details wrong, I apologize!
> 
> This will just be a two-part short (haven’t started the second part yet) and definitely not my greatest, but cute and fun nevertheless, so enjoy!

It was a cheery evening at Grimmauld Place with most of the Weasley family gathered in the dining room for Christmas dinner. Along with the Weasleys, Sirius, Harry, and Hermione were also there and the day had consisted of gifts, games, and time with some of Hermione’s favorite people. Arthur Weasley had recently been attacked by Voldemort’s snake and Hermione had left her parents on their family ski vacation to be there for the family that she loved as much as her own.

She would only admit it to herself of course, that one person in particular had been her  _ main _ reason for coming, and she had been trying to figure him out all day. She had been extremely surprised that morning when she had opened up his gift to her...a bottle of perfume. On one hand, you would  _ think _ that meant that he had  _ some  _ sort of romantic feelings for her (and she did desperately hope for that to be the case) but on the other hand, he had acted nonchalant about it like it had been no big deal when she had thanked him.

He drove her crazy and he could be absolutely infuriating at times, but she was unable to deny that her feelings for him had long grown from just friendship and were quickly getting more and more intense as the days went by. 

She was constantly thinking about him and imagining all these different scenarios in her head. Most of these scenarios involved them kissing, and to her surprise, even sometimes  _ more  _ than that. 

She tried not to be  _ too _ obvious whenever she internally examined every word that he spoke to her, looking for any sign that he cared for her the way she did for him. So far she had not come to any definite conclusions on the matter and was stuck in a limbo of ‘he loves me, he loves me not’ and it was extremely aggravating.

She started to study him as he sat across from her at the table. He was eating what she thought was his third plate of food and she watched as his adam’s apple bobbed up and down when he leaned back and gulped down the last of his pumpkin juice. She noticed the stubble on his face and suddenly had a desire to lick the small drip of juice that was left in the corner of his mouth as he set his cup down. She looked down, hoping that she didn’t have a noticeable flush after staring at him like she had been doing. 

Slowly, people were starting to get up and leave the room as they finished, and then it was only Ron, Fred, George, Ginny, and herself remaining. Ginny was sitting next to Ron, while Fred and George were on either side of Hermione. She had felt that this was rather odd when they had first sat down as the twins usually sat next to each other, and usually not right next to her either, but out of politeness she had not said anything. She had, however, noticed them start giving each other sly grins as dinner was slowly coming to a close and she was anticipating that  _ something _ was going to happen that evening.

Suddenly, she felt Fred kick his leg out past hers under the table and nudge George, who then had a huge grin plastered on his face. Hermione eyed them warily as she noticed them give each other a look that made her have no doubt now that they were  _ definitely _ up to something.

Before she could think on it though, she watched George sit up straighter, loudly clearing his throat and looking intently at his youngest brother. “So Ronniekins. How has  _ your  _ Christmas been so far?” he asked Ron.

Ron raised his eyebrows at him, the suspicion apparent in his face as he replied. “It’s been fine.”

“Only  _ fine? _ ” Fred pressed. “I mean, isn’t it  _ great _ that Hermione here has left her family holiday to join us?” He then put his arm around her shoulders as she turned her head and scowled at him.

“Yes.” Replied Ron as he quickly looked back down at his plate, his ears turning red.

“I agree with you little brother!” George piped up. “It  _ sure _ is nice to have such a  _ pretty _ face around here to look at! With all the glumness around this dreary place, we need something like that, you know?” 

She watched as Ron looked up and glared at him, but he didn’t say anything.

“So Ickle, remind me...what did you get Granger here for Christmas again?” Fred asked.

“Perfume.” Ron replied instantly, his eyebrows suddenly furrowing in confusion, as if he hadn’t wanted to answer but had anyway. 

Then the twins gave each other another broad grin before turning again to Ron. “Interesting choice Ronniekins!” Fred exclaimed. 

“But the question dear brother, is _why_ would you choose such a gift for your dear female... _friend_?” George followed up.

“Because I fancy her.” Ron replied, his face instantly turning scarlet, his eyes widening in horror at his own words.

Hermione’s breath caught in her throat and she too had started to blush hard and felt extremely uncomfortable at Ron’s obvious discomposure. 

“Oh! So you fancy Hermione here?” Fred asked, tightening his arm around her before she grabbed his hand and threw it off of her shoulder.

“Yes.” Ron answered, his face nearly on fire now with a mixture of embarrassment, confusion, and rage.

But apparently the twins weren’t done with him yet. “So if she were to give you a little..I don’t know..Christmas  _ snog _ , that’d make you happy yeah?” George asked with a wink towards Hermione.

“Very.” Ron replied, his eyes widening even more as his hand flew to his mouth, preventing him from saying anything else. His eyebrows furrowed further before he let out a groan as if he had just suddenly realized something.

“Or maybe even a Christmas  _ shag _ ! Would you enjoy  _ that _ little brother?”

Ron’s hand was still tightly over his mouth as he violently jumped up, kicking his chair to the floor behind him. She heard his voice reply, but his hand muffled his words so she didn’t understand what he had said. 

During all of this, Ron had pointedly not looked at Hermione and she was slightly relieved as she must have looked almost as bewildered and embarrassed as he did. 

After a few seconds he removed his hand and glared at the twins. “Fuck  _ off _ you  _ arseholes _ !” He seethed before turning around and loudly stomped up the stairs, Fred and George howling with laughter and giving each other high fives.

Ginny just looked half amused and half uncomfortable as Hermione stood up and turned to the twins, glaring at them. Her voice came out high pitched and unsteady. “You two are absolutely  _ ridiculous _ ! And...and  _ cruel _ !” 

Ron had been absolutely  _ mortified  _ at the words that had come out of his mouth. She had known then of course that they hadn’t been true at all. 

She wasn’t sure exactly  _ what  _ had just happened, but it stung to think that he was so very obviously  _ against _ the idea of fancying her...the expressions that had been on his face had said way more than his words had. She tried to turn her hurt into rage for the twins who had had the audacity to play such a ruthless joke on their little brother.

“Calm down Granger.” replied George. “We didn't  _ force _ him to drink his pumpkin juice!”

She gritted her teeth.“Oh so you spiked his drink with one of your little products did you?” Hermione snapped. She had known that something like that had happened, and they had just as much confirmed it. Unable to look at their laughing faces anymore, she turned and headed upstairs as well.

She made it up to the room that Ron had been staying in and stopped at the shut door, suddenly nervous as she lifted her hand, hesitant to knock. She knew that Ron was still upset and she didn't want to overstep, but her concern for him eventually won out and she lightly knocked on the door.

“GO AWAY!” Ron bellowed loudly.

“It’s...it’s me.” She said quietly.

He didn’t respond and at first she thought that he must’ve not heard her, but then she heard his slow footsteps before the door creaked open. He opened it wide enough for her to enter, and as soon as she did, he closed it behind her. 

He still looked upset and honestly didn’t seem too happy that she was there as he made a sweeping gesture with his arm, indicating that she should sit on the bed as he took the small chair at the desk. He then sat down and stretched his long legs out and leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling with his hands clasped on his chest. 

“Why are you here Hermione?” He sighed loudly. “I mean, I already  _ know _ what you’re going to say so...you don’t have to even bother saying it.” 

What on earth was he talking about? Maybe whatever the twins had spiked his pumpkin juice with was still making him say odd things. “What do you mean by  _ that _ ?” She asked, slightly offended. “I’ve just come to make sure that you're okay!”

He groaned. “I’m _ fine  _ Hermione. Please. For my sake just..just forget about it.” He looked defeated as he then leaned forward in the chair and rubbed his eyes.

She was puzzled. He was acting as if  _ he _ had done something wrong, rather than acting like the victim of a joke. “What are you _ talking  _ about Ronald? It wasn't like you _ knew _ that Fred and George were going to try one of their insane products on you.”

His head came up to look at her quizzically. “Their...products?”

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously Ron! I know that you don’t  _ really _ think those sorts of things ... that you couldn't possibly...  _ fancy _ me! I mean...just the  _ idea _ of it is...is barmy.” She finished lamely, her head dropping down as she tried not to let him know how hurt she was over the words she had said.

“Yeah….barmy.” she heard him say in a quiet voice that was almost a whisper. 

She chanced a look at him. He was staring at the floor, obviously thinking hard, and his face looked impossibly...sad? For some strange reason she felt like what she had said had made him feel even  _ worse _ but she didn’t know why that would be so she started talking again, wanting to make him feel better.

“So, uh. Don’t worry about it okay? There’s no reason to be...embarrassed or anything about something so ridiculous.” She forced out a small fake laugh, and in return he gave her an extremely small smile that looked more like a grimace.

The room was then filled with awkward silence as neither one of them seemed to know what to say. They were no longer even looking at each other and Ron was lightly tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair, as she stood up, shuffling her feet.

“Oh! I’ve just remembered! I told Ginny that I would show her my new book after dinner!” She said with fake enthusiasm.

Ron looked up at her and she knew that he most certainly hadn’t believed her lie, but he seemed relieved at the prospect of her leaving him. “Ok then. I’ll see you tomorrow then I guess. Goodnight Hermione.”

She nodded her head and walked out, closing the door behind her, her eyes instantly watering as she started to head back downstairs.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

It was just after breakfast on Bill and Fleur's wedding day. Hermione had woken up in a good mood, forbidding herself from even  _ thinking _ about horcruxes, or Voldemort, or the fact that soon her and her two best friends would be leaving on a very dangerous and very unsure trip to help defeat the darkest wizard of all time.

The burrow was absolutely buzzing with last minute tasks, but Mrs. Weasley had pushed Hermione, Harry, and the younger Weasley siblings upstairs, ordering them all to get dressed. She had shaken her finger specifically at Ron and the twins, telling them that they better have their hair combed and their shirts tucked in ‘ _ or else _ ’ and they had grumbled their usual “Yes mum.” in response

Hermione and Ginny were in her room, helping each other get ready. After about an hour of primping, they emerged, both dressed and silly with excitement. 

Hermione was both excited and anxious to see Ron dressed up in his new dress robes. To her dismay, her feelings for him had only gotten increasingly stronger as time had gone on. He wasn’t perfect of course, he still infuriated her like no one else could, but apparently that mattered little to her heart. Her heart, she reminded herself, that he had absolutely stamped on last year when he decided to start going with  _ Lavender Brown _ ...a girl that was almost like another species of girl that she was. 

Although to her satisfaction, Ron had almost immediately regretted the decision to start going with her and soon after he had been accidentally poisoned they had broken up. 

Since then, all had been almost the same as it had been before Lavender came between herself and Ron. Or had it? He  _ had _ been nicer towards her she supposed, and he had also held her in a hug the times that she had needed comfort in the recent months. She figured that it was just because he was a Weasley (some of them were notorious huggers) and also that he was simply a caring friend. She had not dared to wonder if he cared for her in  _ that  _ way and had long accepted that to him, they were just best friends. 

She started to walk downstairs and found George banging on the bathroom door. 

"Hurry Up! You've been in there for a bloody hour!"

He looked up and saw Hermione approaching and gestured towards the closed bathroom door. "Tell your boyfriend that he's taking too damn long in the bathroom and he needs to let others have a turn."

Her cheeks flushed. "Ron is  _ not _ my boyfriend."

He grinned at her in an infuriating way, as if he didn’t believe her. Although she was now used to the twins taking the mickey out of her and Ron in this manner, she still got flustered when it did happen...especially when it was in front of Ron. The twins of course were never as bad to her as they were to poor Ron, who had a habit of turning into a tomato red color whenever they taunted him about her.

Just then the door opened and the smell of a freshly clean Ron hit her with the subtlety of a tidal wave. She tried not to make it too obvious that she was inhaling the smell of him as if she needed it to breathe. Ron was wearing a too-small-for-him robe and when he eyed her up and down in her dress she almost stopped breathing. He met her eyes then, and gave her one of the sweetest smiles that he had ever given her and if she had to name a word for the look that he was giving her, it would have been adoration.

“Nice robe Ickle.” Laughed Fred as he too showed up in front of the bathroom door, already dressed.

Ron shrugged sheepishly. “It’s Ginny’s. I accidentally left my clothes upstairs.”

“Get out of my way, I need to fix my hair or mum’ll have my head.” said George, trying to move past Ron who was still standing and blocking the door frame.

Ron seemed unable to move as he was still staring at her and didn’t seem to notice that George was trying to get past him. He opened his mouth as if he was going to tell her something, but George spoke first.

“What took you so long in there anyway?”

Before Ron could respond, Fred cut in.“Oh come on George, we both know what Ronnie was doing in the shower. He was  _ washing _ himself.”

George grinned, momentarily forgetting that he had wanted to get into the bathroom. “I reckon you’re right Fred. I’m sure he was paying  _ extra  _ attention to a certain part of his anatomy as he  _ washed _ it!”

“I’ll bet that he had a firm grip on it.”

“While he  _ stroked _ it clean.”

Hermione watched as Ron’s face turned it’s tell-tale shade of embarrassed red as he clenched his fists at his sides. She briefly wondered if he  _ had _ been doing what the twins were insinuating, the images running through her mind making her feel dizzy.

Before Hermione could take a breath to have a go at the twins in Ron’s defense, Ron had flipped them the bird before walking past them, heading up to his room. Her eyes followed him until he disappeared before she turned around to a cackling Fred and George.

“Why are you two always so hard on him? He doesn’t deserve to be treated that way!” She snapped.

“Ah c'mon Hermione! Wank-in-the-shower jokes are harmless enough. He didn’t even get mad enough to reply, trust me, he’s fine.” Fred assured her.

“Yeah, that certainly wasn’t taking it too far.” George went on. “Putting veritaserum in his pumpkin juice at Christmas the year before last….now  _ that _ was probably going too far, I’ll admit. Even though it  _ was _ utterly hilarious!”

Her heart stopped in her chest. “V-veritaserum?” She croaked out.

Fred raised his eyebrow. “You were  _ there  _ remember? I recall you basically screaming at us for doing it.”

“We thought that it would force Ron to make a move...but obviously he  _ still _ didn’t have the bollocks.” George chuckled.

“Still doesn’t apparently. I figure he’s right scared of you Granger. Can’t blame him though, really.” Fred shrugged.

She was barely listening to them as she thought back to that night over a year and a half ago. It was like a missing piece had clicked into place that made things start to suddenly make sense. Ron hadn’t been mortified because what he had said wasn't true, he had been mortified because they  _ had _ been true! He  _ did _ have feelings for her! Well at least he had back then before she had unknowingly ruined the chances of him ever coming out and letting her know. 

_ No wonder  _ he had never made a move! She had told him that the idea of him fancying her was  _ barmy,  _ why would he be honest with her after she had said something like that! If the roles had been reversed, she wouldn't have said anything either. She suppressed a groan. 

“D-does he still..?” She trailed off.

“Have it bad for you?” George snorted.

“ _ Ohhh yeah _ . And it’s only gotten worse since then. I thought you were supposed to be smart Hermione?” Fred grinned.

She took a step backwards before she turned around and raced upstairs. She had to talk to him.  _ Now. _

She faintly heard George’s voice as she got further away. “I always knew that  _ she _ would be the one to make the moves.”

She made it to Ron’s bedroom door and wiggled the doorknob. It was locked.

“Ron. I’m coming in.” She used her wand to unlock the door and swung it open.

Ron was hastily pulling his trousers up his legs. His head snapped up, bewildered. “Geeze Hermione, give a guy a minute will you?” Her eyes watched his hands as he quickly pulled up his zipper and finished fastening his trousers before he stood up straight, waiting for her to explain herself.

His upper body was bare, and his trousers were riding low on his hips, the tops of his pants only a little higher. She stared at him, unable to formulate a single word. She realized that although she had been frantic to get up here and set things right, she had not thought of how she was going to start the conversation.

She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off. “Oh before you start...what I was  _ going _ to say earlier...I mean outside the bathroom before Fred and George started being prats...I was going to tell you that you uh...look beautiful.” He gulped nervously. “Not that you are ever  _ not _ beautiful or anything..I mean a dress may be  _ pretty _ , but that doesn't automatically make the person wearing it more...attractive you know?”

She was unable to respond. Her mind was still taking in the information that she had just learned, and now Ron was in front of her half-dressed and calling her beautiful...she felt overwhelmed.

He slowly started walking towards her.

“Hermione?” He waved his hand slowly in front of her face. “What’s wrong? You look terrified.” 

She looked up at him, seeing his face etched with concern.

“I...I didn’t know. Christmas. I said. I didn’t mean. I thought…” She closed her eyes, internally berating herself. One would think that she had never spoken an actual sentence before.

When she opened her eyes, she saw him looking at her, his face now slightly amused, his eyebrows raised. He gently grasped the sides of her arms and led her towards his bed where he sat her down before he grabbed a button-up shirt and sat directly across from her on Harry’s bed.

“Ok. Hermione. What’s going on?” He asked as he slipped his arms in the sleeves and started to button up the shirt from the bottom.

To her horror, her eyes betrayed her and filled up with tears before falling down her cheeks. 

The slight smile that he had previously had was immediately gone as he jumped up and sat next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her tight against his side.

“Hey now. It’s supposed to be a happy day today. Tell me what’s wrong so I can fix it.” He said softly, reassuringly running his hand up and down her arm.

“I just- I just now learned that it was veritaserum that the twins put in your drink the Christmas before last.” She blurted out.

She felt as Ron’s body suddenly went tense as his hand stopped moving on her arm. “Oh.” He said after several long seconds. “Definitely  _ not _ what I was thinking you would say.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“Nah. It’s fine. That was a long time ago yeah? Honestly I was torn on whether you actually  _ knew _ or you just pretended  _ not  _ to know so you could spare my feelings.” He chuckled, but she could tell that there wasn’t really any humor behind it.

“Ohmygod the things I  _ said _ to you Ron...I swear if I'd known… I...it would have been different.”

“What do you mean?” He asked quietly.

Instead of answering, she asked a question of her own. “When I went up to talk to you that night, you told me that you already knew what I was going to say. What did you think I was going to say?”

“Well…” He reached up and scratched his chin. “Obviously at first I figured you had known what really happened...and that you were there to let me down gently, to tell me that you only thought of me as a friend.”

Her heart broke for him. “If I  _ had  _ known Ron...I promise you that we would have had a  _ very  _ different conversation than the one that we had.”

“How...how so?” He asked her timidly.

She was still leaning against his side so she sat up a bit and turned her body to look at him. “I would have told you that there’s nothing to be ashamed of... because I fancy you as well.”

He looked at her, his face incredulous. “ _ No shite _ .” He said breathlessly. 

They both turned until their faces were only a few inches apart.

“And now?” He whispered.

“ _ Now _ ?...Well I think that it’s gone quite a bit past  _ just  _ fancying.”

Without warning, his lips crashed onto hers and she fell backwards on the bed, Ron’s body tumbling down onto hers. 

It was like someone had just caused an explosion of heat inside of her, and she was unable to contain the passion that was overflowing from her body. She sensed that he felt the same as he was kissing her in a way that was as if he needed to kiss her to live. She felt woozy as one of his hands slowly trailed down her side before holding tight to her hip, the other hand tangling in her hair. Finally their need for oxygen broke them apart. 

“Woah.” Ron managed as they panted.

She could only nod her head in agreement as she started to move her body backwards, pulling his arm to let him know she wanted him to follow. Slowly they scooted up all the way onto the bed together. She laid down as he climbed fully on top of her, resuming their kissing, his tongue going deep in her mouth as they both let out a moan. 

She wrapped her arms around his back and yanked his body all the way down on top of hers so he was gloriously smashed against her. She then felt what this was doing to him, and moved over an inch or two until she could feel him right in between her legs. She raised her legs on either side of him, putting her feet flat on the bed as her dress fell up onto her waist. She grinded herself against him as he gasped and stroked her bare thigh with his fingers, moving his frantic kisses down to her neck. 

He gently pulled the top of her dress down on the left side, baring her breast to him and taking her nipple in his mouth. She was unable to stop the whimpers that were coming out of her as he lightly bit her. Then he lifted himself a few inches, moving his hand that had been on her thigh down in between her legs to stroke her on the outside of her knickers. She knew she was soaked and that he must have felt it because he let out a groan before attacking her mouth again with his, his fingers starting to move the thin piece of fabric to the side.

“THE REST OF YOU LOT BETTER BE DONE NOW BECAUSE IT IS TIME TO TAKE THE BEFORE-CEREMONY PICTURES!” came the booming voice of Molly Weasley from the first floor.

Both Ron and Hermione froze.

“You’ve  _ got _ to be fucking kidding me.” said Ron, gritting his teeth.

Although Hermione of course shared his frustration, she knew that she would have to be level-headed for him.

“Hey.” She said gently, running her hand along the side of his face. “We can continue this later ok?”

He met her eyes, sighing before giving her a lopsided grin. “That's a promise?” he asked.

She leaned up and gave him a small kiss. “Yes. Come on, we have to compose ourselves before we go down there.”

He leaned away from her and stood up, grabbing her hand and helping her do the same. They inspected each other to make sure they were appropriate before heading down.

When they got downstairs, everyone else was outside. She went ahead of him and reached to open the front door. 

“Wait!” he called out.

She stopped and he went to stand next to her, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers. “Ok. Now let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FYI- YES, I’m still writing chapter 10 of ‘My Heart Remembers’ - it’s an important chapter and I want to make sure that it’s perfect before I post it :) sorry for the wait! 

**Author's Note:**

> +10 points to your house if you are the first to correctly guess what what Fred and George really did. Although I think that I made it ‘pretty obvious’ (In Lockhart’s voice)


End file.
